The world health report 1996: fighting disease; fostering development

Abstract

For most of the people in the world today, every phase of life-from infancy to old age-takes place under the double burden of poverty and disease. Although average life expectancy is increasing at the global level, for scores of millions of people it is actually becoming shorter. For many more the prospect of a longer life plagued by illness and disability is more like a punishment than a prize

Much of this suffering is needless. The knowledge and technology exist to prevent or control most of the world's biggest killers. Yet while knowledge and technologies continue to advance, little is being done to ensure that their benefits are evenly and faily distributed. As a result, today's world health situation has fault-lines in the form of ominoulsy widening gaps between rich and poor, between one population and another, between age groups and between the sexes

The World Health Report 1995, based on the mos authoritative and up-to-date information gathered by WHO, exposes those gaps and describes the efforts needed to bridge them. It explores the burden imposed by specific diseases and other health problems throughout the world in all the age groups, from children and adolescents to adults and the elderly

By presenting and analysing a wealth of new data, the report provides an expert and coprehensive diagnosis of the state of human health worldwide..., it offers a prescription for action that could save millions of lives every year, and impove the quality of life for humanity. This report should serve as an essential reference for everyone with a professional or personal interest in health, or in the difficult ethical issues raised by a world so full of preventable suffering